Surface Pro Storage: Microsoft Surface Pro Storage Misconception

Surface Pro Storage: When shopping for a tablet, many people want to know exactly how much storage space it will have. This is definitely true with the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Surface Pro that is set to hit the market on February 9.

So, what is the problem? It was reported that the tablet would be available in both 64 GB and 128 GB models. Easy enough. However, there is one problem with this. There are now reports that the 64 GB model will only have 23 GB out of the box. The 128 GB model will only provide 83 GB of free storage.

What is up with the rest of the storage? According to ZDNet, “The remaining storage is consumed by the Windows 8 Pro operating system, built-in apps (like People/Mail/Calendar) and the recovery partition.”

This may not be a problem for some, but many feel betrayed. Many feel as if Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is intentionally misleading the consumer.

The same cannot be said for the competition, such as tablets from Apple and other competitors. Here is a follow-up piece from ZDNet, discussing this issue:

“Competitive tablets, the iPad and Android tablets specifically, lose a little of system storage to the OS but not much. When you buy a 64GB iPad you have most of that storage space available to add apps and media. It’s the same for Android.”

“That’s why the heavy cost in storage space of Windows 8 is a big deal. Sure when you compare the Surface Pro’s installation to other PCs you get a similar loss of storage space out of the box. But Microsoft has taken great pains, completely redesigned the operation of Windows 8 matter of fact, to make the Surface Pro a tablet competitor.”